Asian Lutherans Discuss Challenges, Opportunities for 21st Century

BANGKOK, Thailand (ELCA) -- "We're here because we've been given a worldview of all God's creation and of God's people," the Rev. Paul T. Nakamura told opening worship participants at the second Asian Lutheran International Conference (ALIC) held here March 30- April 3. The Torrence, Calif., pastor reminded the nearly 100 conferees that God has given one order: "Go and baptize. We're called to be disciples. Be obedient to the Spirit."
The conference brought together Asian leaders from churches in 12 countries. Several members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were among the participants. The group discussed opportunities and challenges for the 21st century.
ALIC formed two years ago as a network for Asian Lutherans. The organization emerged to address common concerns, to facilitate joint action for Christian witness, to discuss leadership issues and to provide a forum for theological reflection, said conference planner, the Rev. Pongsak Limthongviratn, director for Asian ministries, ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries, Chicago.
The Rev. Frederick E.N. Rajan, the commission's executive director, presented a paper on Asian ministry in the 21st century. The majority of U.S. Asians "have very close ties to Asian churches," he said. "Our hearts are still in Asia." Rajan reminded the group that U.S. Asian Lutherans and Lutherans in Asia must work together. "We must see our ministries as one," he said.
"Every year the U.S. Asian population grows by 400,000 people," Rajan said. "But the ELCA's Asian membership grows by 200 a year. So the good news is that we have lots of opportunities for evangelism."
The story on Asian leadership within the ELCA presents challenges too. Rajan said 30 percent of the 113 Asian clergy in the ELCA are retired. "Of the active clergy, two-thirds are over the age of 55," he said.
"Asian churches can share from their supply of pastors as exchange pastors and as immigrant pastors recruited on a personal basis," said Josephine Tso, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hong Kong, in response. She underscored that Asian churches have many resources to share with the ELCA.
"However, this willingness must be balanced by and understood in the light of our limitations in the face of great needs," Tso said. "While we may only have five loaves and two fishes among us to feed the Asian multitudes, I know that the best place to put them is into the hands of our Lord, that he might bless them, break them and multiply them to meet more needs than we ever thought possible."
J. R. Hutauruk, head of the Protestant Christian Batak Church in Indonesia, asked the group about putting Lutheran theology into the context of the culture. "Do we take for granted that we have the gospel and then study culture to learn how to transmit it?" he asked. "Or do we redefine the gospel on the basis of our contextual discoveries?"
"Out of the struggles with issues such as ethnicity, syncretism, globalization, poverty and languages, we need to redefine the gospel," said the Rev. Yutaka Kishino, mission director, ELCA Pacifica and Southern California (West) Synods, Yorba Linda, Calif., in response. Kishino urged participants to discuss Hutauruk's questions, asking, "How does the gospel speak in these contexts where we are placed?"
The Rev. J. Paul Rajashekar, academic dean, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, presented a paper on the Asian perspective of the marks of the church. "The church does not possess Christ but is possessed by Christ," he said.
Rajeshakar noted that the traditional marks of the church as "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" are "ideal descriptions of what the church ought to be." But, he said, "the central problem of the church is the tension between what the church claims to be and what it actually is . As everyone knows, the empirical church is not united but divided, not only catholic (in the sense of universal) but also parochial, not only a holy institution but profoundly sinful and profane, not only possessing apostolic authority but often authoritarian and curtailing freedom."
"It's clear that the church has to change," said Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church's seminary in Tokyo. "Today's church can only save itself when it's prepared to lose itself. The world has drastically changed. The church has to change no less drastically."
Participants discussed the presentations and responses in small groups and in plenary sessions. They also attended workshops, sang and worshiped together.

* Sonia C. Solomonson is managing editor for The Lutheran, magazine
of the ELCA.

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